Tube train drivers on London Underground who are members of the RMT union are preparing for strike action from 24 March.
Tube bosses want to introduce what they describe as a ‘four-day week’, but the union is exposing that in reality it is five days of work compressed into four. London Underground claims the new arrangements will be voluntary but has refused to give any guarantees about that, and is imposing the change.
RMT regional organiser Jared Wood was interviewed by Eddie Nestor on BBC Radio London:
“It’s not voluntary, this is the problem. When we’ve said to London Underground, ‘Does that mean that anyone that’s not currently working the new arrangements can carry on on the old ones, wherever they work, whatever line they’re on?’ they say they can’t answer that. When we say, ‘Would you be able to move locations in the future without giving up your right to your current arrangements?’ they say they can’t answer that. When we say, ‘Will new workers who get the position of train operator be able to do the existing arrangements?’ they say they can’t answer that.
“So actually, while they’re using the word ‘voluntary’, when you dig into it there’s nothing voluntary about it. It will have significant impacts on people who try and remain on their existing terms.”
Fight for genuine shorter working hours
RMT members on London Underground have won significant victories recently. In 2024, the threat of strike action won an extra £30 million towards pay. In February 2025, a huge victory was won defending pension rights, and in November, strike action won a three-year inflation-proof pay rise.
But the union then pledged to continue fighting for a shorter working week. Tube workers work 24/7 every week of the year. Extreme shifts and night shifts leave workers exhausted and affect health and life expectancy. The RMT campaigns for a shorter working week, more annual leave and, on trains, a four-day week, with no productivity strings and no loss of pay. But this new timetable from the bosses is not any of these things and its imposition must be fought – a fight which will be stronger if it is joined by the other tube unions too.
The RMT has announced six 24-hour strikes, each starting at midday. See rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-launches-tube-strike-action-over-imposed-four-day for details